TOP TEN LISTS
Dec 19, 2016 22:49:59 GMT -5
Post by arnzilla on Dec 19, 2016 22:49:59 GMT -5
Metro's Matt Prigge - The top 10 best films of 2016
6. ‘Silence’
Thank god “The Wolf of Wall Street” was a hit (even if some fans didn’t realize it was satire). It meant Martin Scorsese could coax a major studio to fund his $50 million priest movie. It's a masterwork deeply untrendy in so many ways: as a slow and serene time-gobbler amidst busy and clangy blockbusters; as a thoughtful movie about religion when believers flock to evil crap like “God’s Not Dead”; and, apparently, as an awards magnet. There’s suspiciously little fanfare (read: Oscar talk) for this look at Jesuit priests (Andrew Garfield and Adam Driver) who willingly travel to anti-Christian 17th century Japan, knowing they almost certainly will be rounded up and tortured. The often (but far from always) keyed-up Scorsese shoots it all in hushed, slowly paced shots, even the parts where people are burned alive or crucified at sea. It’s no “The Passion of the Christ,” rubbing our noses in unspeakable agony. It’s as reserved and committed to its craft as its protagonists are to theirs — a calm yet intense safe space in which to ruminate on faith, doubt and a filmmaker who’s doing some of his best work well into his 70s.
Thank god “The Wolf of Wall Street” was a hit (even if some fans didn’t realize it was satire). It meant Martin Scorsese could coax a major studio to fund his $50 million priest movie. It's a masterwork deeply untrendy in so many ways: as a slow and serene time-gobbler amidst busy and clangy blockbusters; as a thoughtful movie about religion when believers flock to evil crap like “God’s Not Dead”; and, apparently, as an awards magnet. There’s suspiciously little fanfare (read: Oscar talk) for this look at Jesuit priests (Andrew Garfield and Adam Driver) who willingly travel to anti-Christian 17th century Japan, knowing they almost certainly will be rounded up and tortured. The often (but far from always) keyed-up Scorsese shoots it all in hushed, slowly paced shots, even the parts where people are burned alive or crucified at sea. It’s no “The Passion of the Christ,” rubbing our noses in unspeakable agony. It’s as reserved and committed to its craft as its protagonists are to theirs — a calm yet intense safe space in which to ruminate on faith, doubt and a filmmaker who’s doing some of his best work well into his 70s.